Signalling molecules, growth regulators and cell cycle control in Drosophila.
During the development of a given organ or tissue within a multicellular organism, growth and patterning are controlled in a coordinated manner by the activity of a discrete number of signalling molecules and their corresponding pathways to give rise to a well-formed structure with a particular size, shape and pattern. Understanding how cells of different tissues or organs translate the activity of these pathways into an activation or repression of the cell cycle machinery in a context-dependent manner is at present one of the most intriguing questions in developmental and cancer biology. In this article we review the different roles of the Notch and Wingless signalling molecules in the regulation of cell cycle progression in the developing eye and wing imaginal discs of Drosophila and propose that, depending on how growth regulators are controlled in a context-dependent manner by the activity of these pathways, signalling molecules might have tumour suppressor or oncogene activity.
Herranz
Héctor
H
ICREA and Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Parc Científic de Barcelona, Josep Samitier, Barcelona, Spain.
Milán
Marco
M
D000818:Animals; D002453:Cell Cycle; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000166:cytology* / Q000196:embryology; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000196:embryology
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins